Orcrist

)   Orcrist
Base item	elven broadsword
Damage vs. small	1d6+1d4 ×2
Damage vs. large	1d6+1 ×2
To-hit bonus	+1d5
Bonus versus	orcs
Weapon skill	broadsword
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	chaotic elven
When carried	(none)
When wielded	detect orcs
When invoked	(none)
Base price	2000 zm
Weight	70
Material	wood

Orcrist is an artifact weapon that appears in NetHack. It is chaotic, and its base item is an elven broadsword.

Orcrist grants a +d5 to-hit bonus and double damage against all orcish monsters, and like Sting it warns of orcs when wielded, accompanied by the weapon glowing blue.

Orcrist will only blast you if you are currently an orc, and will not do so otherwise regardless of alignment or alignment record. Unlike most artifact weapons, Orcrist does not resist the effects of a cursed scroll of enchant weapon.

Generation

Orcrist is a potential sacrifice gift for chaotic, non-orcish players.

Orcrist is one of two artifacts in the game that can be named, which is a property shared with Sting: naming any elven broadsword Orcrist will transform it into the artifact, breaking illiterate conduct.

Strategy

Orcrist is generally not of much use for most roles, unless they lack a solid starting weapon and are able to advance their skill in broadsword. Orcs are usually plentiful and also not particularly hard to hit for combat-proficient roles, even before the +5 to-hit bonus is applied. Those who lack experience dealing with groups of orcs may find it a useful supplement, provided they can find an altar or an elven broadsword to name early enough. A role without a reliable weapon such as a Tourist may consider naming Orcrist to get an early medium-damage weapon that can be reliably trained.

Elven Priests or Rangers that desire Stormbringer can force it by naming both Orcrist and Sting before sacrificing, provided it has not already generated - the first sacrifice gift you are given is always co-aligned. As orcish players cannot receive Orcrist this way, they will instead receive either Stormbringer or Grimtooth for their first gift.

History

Orcrist first appears in Hack 1.0, where it was the sole artifact available until the addition of Excalibur in NetHack 1.3d. In Hack 1.0, any weapon could be named Orcrist - such a weapon deals extra damage against orcs, and this could also be done with multiple weapons; Hack 1.0.2 restricted the creation of Orcrist this way to two-handed swords, though multiple copies were still possible until NetHack 3.0.0.

Orcrist would remain a two-handed sword until NetHack 3.1.0, where it was made an elven broadsword.

Origin

In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Orcrist (known in Sindarin as "Goblin-cleaver") was an elven sword originally forged several millennia ago by high-elven smiths in Gondolin alongside Glamdring, the sword of King Turgon - both swords could detect the presence of orcs and warn its bearer by glowing blue. Orcrist has a jeweled hilt and high-quality scabbard, with runes on the sword bearing its name - it is described as killing "hundreds of goblins in its time, when the fair Elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did battle before their walls", and was most likely lost during the Fall of Gondolin; it nonetheless became known as the "Biter" among goblins and orcs alike.

Both swords were discovered in a troll-hoard by Thorin's group, with Elrond identifying Orcrist and Thorin promising to honor the sword by killing goblins with it. He would have his chance to do so when he and his company were captured by orcs in the Misty Mountains, who brought them to their kingdom underneath and dragged the group before their ruler, the Great Goblin. As he accused Thorin's group of spying, one of their captors held out Orcrist to the Great Goblin, and he and his soldiers were enraged at the sight of the "Biter" that had once felled many of their number. As he then approached Thorin, the great fire that lit the large cavern went out - the Great Goblin was quickly slain by the Glamdring-wielding Gandalf, allowing Bilbo and the dwarves to escape.

Variants

SLASH'EM

SLASH'EM changes Orcrist's alignment from chaotic to lawful, since all elves were changed from chaotic to lawful. Additionally, its to-hit bonus is flay like all artifact weapons in SLASH'EM, granting +5 against orcs along with its double damage and a 15% chance to cancel any orc it hits. Orcs as a monster class are more varied and can be much more powerful than in vanilla NetHack, making Orcrist slightly more useful for a longer stretch of the game.

SporkHack

In SporkHack, Orcrist deals an additional +d4 damage to all foes.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, Orcrist also has +1d5 to-hit and double damage against demons, and it warns of them as well, though it is unlikely to be a player's first option for fighting them.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, your god will never give you a nameable artifact such as Orcrist as a sacrifice gift. This makes forcing Stormbringer much easier for chaotic characters.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, Orcrist is made of copper like all other elven weapons.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, Orcrist is made of mithril, which deals an additional +1d8 damage to orcish monsters, including orcish players; naming an elven braodsword Orcrist will turn its material to mithril. Additionally, Orcrist has a small chance to instantly kill any orc it hits, making it very dangerous if a player orc encounters a hostile wielding it.

Using a forge to combine Orcrist and Sting will create the artifact weapon Glamdring, a mithril elven long sword that shares the orc-warning and orc-slaying abilities of its component artifacts.

Encyclopedia entry

The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth, clashed their shields, and stamped. They knew the sword at once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did battle before their walls. They had called it Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter. They hated it and hated worse any one that carried it.

[ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]